Since I was a child, every Christmas Eve my mother would stay up after we went to bed prepping our morning breakfast of oooey-gooey rolls. Eventually we expanded these treats to occasionally have on Thanksgiving or New Year’s morning as well. It has now become my family’s tradition as well, and I have shared these with my in-laws who also love them and request them on holidays.

I don’t know where the recipe originates from (maybe my mom does), but it is easy. Here is what you need:

1 package Rhodes frozen dinner rolls

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work best)

1/2 to 1 package butterscotch pudding (regular, but instant works in a pinch. I have also used caramel pudding when I could not find butterscotch, and I could not tell a difference in the flavor.)

Cinnamon

Bundt pan

Here is what to do:

Grease bundt pan and sprinkle chopped nuts in the bottom.

Later frozen dinner rolls, sprinkling with pudding and cinnamon between layers

Heat butter and brown sugar until bubbling (you can do this in the microwave or on the stovetop)

These veggie burgers, adapted from a recipe I clipped from Sunset Magazine, are a favorite of my two very picky eaters. They are soft and delicious, and they pack a good amount of protein and nutrients, so I love feeding these to my kids.

START by cooking up 1 cup of red lentils. The original recipe called for 2 cups of pre-cooked lentils, but I have always used dry. I make them like rice, 2 cups water to 1 cup of rinsed RED lentils (Red are softer and more mild than regular lentils, of which I am not a huge fan). Simmer for 20 minutes, then set aside. These work better with the recipe when cool, so make them ahead of time, even the night before if you want. I usually just make in advance them leave to cool on the stove for an hour or two until I am ready to prep the rest of the burgers.

To prep the add ins, you’ll need about 3/4 cup of chopped spinach (I keep frozen on hand and let it thaw a little before chopping, though it chops better when not completely thawed), 1 medium carrot, shredded, 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely diced onion or scallion (I use what I have on hand), 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar is good, but any hard cheese will work), 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (any kind, but regular crumb work better than panko), 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp each of kosher salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder, and 1 egg.

I experiment with different ways of mixing this and baking it, because my picky eaters do not like seeing any green or orange. You can mix by hand and form into patties and bake or cook in oil on the stove, but this last time I put all the ingredients in my Ninja and blended until the spinach and carrot were specks of color. I ended up having to add another 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs to get the right consistency to form into patties, but they turned out soft and tasty. I have also found that cooking in oil in my cast iron pan yields the best results. I cover and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes per side and re-oil between batches with a brush dipped in oil.

My helpers and I whipped up a batch of pumpkin bread this morning, the first time we have tried this. (I should clarify that this is a loaf pumpkin bread, not a pumkin bread cake for which I shared my recipe 3 years ago.) I used this recipe for Downeast Maine Pumpkin bread from All Recipes, but made some modifications. It still turned out moist and delicious!

Here is the recipe as I did it:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 cup flour

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour 3 7 x 3 loaf pans (one of mine is 9 x 5, and I only have 2 pans, but this worked fine for 2 loaves as well. I baked the larger loaf an extra 5 minutes.

Combine pumpkin, eggs, sugars, and water and mix until well blended. I did this by hand, with a wisk.

I just had another slice of this yummy Hummingbird Bundt Cake, the recipe for which I tore out of SouthernLiving magazine years ago and has been living happily in my recipe binder ever since. A few days ago, when I went to look up my go-to recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins with whole wheat flour and coconut oil from little spice jar, I saw the magazine page with this scrumptious-looking cake staring at me. I had pretty much everything I needed to make it, so, with the help of my 4 year old, we whipped

this up with our bananas for dessert rather than making muffins for breakfast.

I initially thought it was too sweet, but after a night in the fridge, it tasted delicious with my morning coffee (I mean, it is basically a fancy banana bread with pineapple and cream cheese frosting.) Yum!

A few weeks ago, at the long-past suggestion of a menu-planning friend, I finally bought a cheap weekly planner from Barnes and Noble for the express purpose of planning meals. Since it’s arrival, I have planned 3 weeks in a row of dinner, and it has helped me to expand our menu and diversify the genres we eat each week. I pull my meals from blogs, my own repertoire, and magazines like Cooking Light and Southern Living, which I get with airline miles.

Since the purpose of this blog originally was just to share my weekly menus, I thought I would share this week’s menu!Monday: Skinny Taste’s (LOVE her recipes!) Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls

Tuesday: Honey Dijon Glazed Salmon with Zuchinni and Herbed Bulgar, pg. 25 in the September 2016 edition of Cooking Light.

Wednesday: I am makong quiche. It’s a great dish for using up miscellaneous veggies in the fridge. I will use goat cheese and cheddar since I have no ricotta on hand and am not likely to get to the store.

Thursday: Beef and Vegetable Ragout on a bed of cauliflower polenta, from the September issue of Cooking Light (it came the day I sat down to plan this week’s menu). Pg. 28

Friday: leftovers or pizza

Saturday: Pork Chops and couscous with tomato-caper sauce, Cooking Light, Sept. 2016, pg. 36. I will make a side of green beans.

Baked Cornflake Chicken Fingers

I haven’t made these in ages, but something about this almost spring-like weather made me think: Yummy, crispy, chicken-y, goodness for dinner! Plus, I’m curious if my toddler, who has quite discriminating tastes, will eat them…nonetheless, here’s a simple, healthy(ish) recipe for delicious chicken fingers!

Preparation

Gently pound chicken between sheets of plastic wrap with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick. Cut chicken lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Stir together butter, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Put cornflakes in another shallow dish. Working with 1 strip at a time, dip in butter, then dredge in cornflakes, pressing flakes firmly to help adhere. Transfer as coated to baking pans.

Bake, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until chicken is golden and cooked through, about 15 minutes total.

Cool chicken in pans on racks to room temperature (crust will firm up as it cools).

Every year as the air turns crisp and it comes time to don cozy clothes, I crave pumpkin. Yesterday was no exception, but I did not want to make pumpkin bread using either of the recipes I have used in the past. I wanted something fast and easy, but something that would turn out soft and delicious. This is what I came up with.

The sauce from the Budget Bytes recipe was AMAZING. I made it exactly per the instructions, only I used 1 1/2 TB of Chili Powder rather than 2, to keep the heat down (it was perfect, but 2 TB would definitely not be too much heat).

To Minamalist Baker’s recipe, I subbed out Parmesan cheese for manchego (just what I had in the fridge), and added chopped onion and tomato to the filling as well.

I rolled them up in Santa Fe Whole Wheat Tortillas from Costco (love these!), drenched them in the sauce, and baked them at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until the sauce was bubbling.

They were delicious, but the sauce made them. I will definitely be using this recipe again! Thanks Budget Bytes!